Conditions at work are becoming worse for millions of people in Britain.

The number of people in employment is now higher than it has ever been. It increased by 606,000 in the year to June—about 1.9 percentage points—according to the Office of National Statistics (ONS).

After Theresa May vowed to “build an economy that works for everyone”, the Tories have seized on these figures to boast of the economy’s strength.

Employed

But they’ve been less quick to talk about the types of new job created. Of the 606,000 jobs only 209,000—less than a third—are people employed on full time contracts.

Almost a quarter—145,000—are on part time contracts. That’s a 2.1 percent increase, twice the one percent growth rate of full time contracts. These figures include people doing temporary or agency work.

The biggest increase was 256,000 more people counted as self-employed—often a bogus category used by bosses (see below).

Although almost 70 percent of women of working age now work, they are disproportionately in part time and low paid jobs.

Many of the industries that have grown over the last year have low union density, which helps bosses push through attacks. So workers and trade unions in these industries need to organise and fight back.

Cafe clashes are food for thought

Over 50,000 more people started working in the “accommodation and food services” industry over the last year.

This follows several years of sustained growth for the sector, both in terms of the number of firms and share of the economy.

But it has the worst wages of any industry in Britain, averaging at £246 a week and workers have seen little improvement in their pay and conditions.

Wages have remained stagnant, with changes of just a few pounds every month over the last year.

Zero hours contracts are rife. Those workers “lucky” enough to have a salary are often bullied into working over their contracted hours—in effect earning below the hourly minimum wage.

Restaurants, cafes and bars can pay workers below the minimum wage and then use tips to “top-up” the difference.

But food and catering bosses can be beaten.

Because of tight profit margins and the perishable nature of food, any stoppage can have a massive impact on bosses’ profits. That means that food workers in particular can win their demands quickly.